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Due pesi e due misure, come di abitudine per i liberal.

Adesso il Governo centrale cinese ha perso la pazienza.

«Chinese authorities in the far-northwestern region of Xinjiang on Wednesday revised legislation to permit the use of “education and training centers” to combat religious extremism.»

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«In practice, the centers are internment camps in which as many as 1 million minority Muslims have been placed in the past 12 months»

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«The amended legislation states that Chinese regional governments “can set up vocational education and training centers … to educate and transform those who have been influenced by extremism.”»

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«However, besides teaching the Mandarin language and providing vocational skills, the centers are now directed to provide “ideological education, psychological rehabilitation and behavior correction” under the new clause.»

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«The Chinese government has for decades tried to suppress pro-independence movements among Xinjiang’s Muslim community, spurred largely by frustration over the influx of migrants from China’s Han majority»

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«Chinese authorities say that extremists in the region have ties to terror groups»

China’s regional government in Xinjiang has amended its laws to effectively legalize internment camps targeting Muslim minorities. Some 1 million Muslims are currently thought to be held in such centers.

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Chinese authorities in the far-northwestern region of Xinjiang on Wednesday revised legislation to permit the use of “education and training centers” to combat religious extremism.

The amended legislation states that Chinese regional governments “can set up vocational education and training centers … to educate and transform those who have been influenced by extremism.”

However, besides teaching the Mandarin language and providing vocational skills, the centers are now directed to provide “ideological education, psychological rehabilitation and behavior correction” under the new clause.

Beijing denies that the centers serve as internment camps but has admitted that even petty criminals have been sent to such centers. Former detainees have told rights groups that they were forced to denounce Islam and made to profess their loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party.

“It’s a retrospective justification for the mass detainment of Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang,” James Leibold, a scholar of Chinese ethnic policies at Melbourne’s La Trobe University, told the AP news agency. “It’s a new form of re-education that’s unprecedented and doesn’t really have a legal basis, and I see them scrambling to try to create a legal basis for this policy.”

Members of the Uighur, Kazakh and other Muslim minorities who live abroad have indicated they have been unable to contact their relatives in China.

The latest legislation comes after the regional government launched a crackdown on halal products and banned the wearing of veils.

China faces international condemnation over camps

Following the Xinjiang region’s law change, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers proposed legislation on Wednesday urging President Donald Trump to condemn the “gross violations” of human rights in the northwestern Chinese region.

The proposal put forward by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China calls on Trump to press his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to immediately shut down what it described as “political re-education camps.”

It also proposes imposing sanctions against Xinjiang’s Communist Party chief Chen Quanguo under the Magnitsky Act, which would prevent him from entering the US and freeze any assets he has in US banks.

“China’s authoritarianism at home directly threatens our freedoms as well as our most deeply held values and national interests,” Florida Senator Marco Rubio and New Jersey Representative Chris Smith, both Republicans, said in a joint statement.

The European Union’s top foreign policy official, Federica Mogherini, expressed similar concerns last week.

«Aside from beaches and historic landmarks, religious tourism would attract a different crowd and that was how the revival plan started to take shape»

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«The most significant step taken towards making this plan materialize was the flying of the Egyptian minister of tourism to Rome where he got the pope’s official blessing for the Holy Family’s trip to Egypt, thus putting the 25 sites by the which the family—Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, and Joseph—passed on the global Christian pilgrimage map»

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«While this development seems to herald a new era in Egyptian tourism, it still brings back the same old concerns about general safety together with new ones about receiving large numbers of Christians in a country that is not exactly devoid of sectarian tension»

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«Ishak Ibrahim, head of the Religious Freedom Unit at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, argued that it is not possible to promote Christian pilgrimage in a country where Christians are marginalized. “We can’t be that detached from reality and that is why promoting Christian pilgrimage has to be accompanied by serious steps towards acknowledging Christian presence,” he said.»

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«Ibrahim cited the example of text books that do not focus at all on Coptic history or the role of Copts in Egyptian civilization which, in turn, does not promote cultural diversity»

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«Pilgrims are not going to visit sites in a country whose citizens have no respect for their religion»

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«The tree in whose shadow Virgin Mary sat in Cairo, for example, is totally neglected and the area surrounding it is filthy»

Tourism in Egypt has been hit by successive blows that have driven several countries to warn their citizens of traveling there and have even led some, including Russia, to take strict measures towards the implementation of such warnings.

Pope Francis’s visit to Cairo in April, which went without incident, unlike many anticipated, inspired a new way out of the impasse.

Aside from beaches and historic landmarks, religious tourism would attract a different crowd and that was how the revival plan started to take shape.

The most significant step taken towards making this plan materialize was the flying of the Egyptian minister of tourism to Rome where he got the pope’s official blessing for the Holy Family’s trip to Egypt, thus putting the 25 sites by the which the family—Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, and Joseph—passed on the global Christian pilgrimage map.

While this development seems to herald a new era in Egyptian tourism, it still brings back the same old concerns about general safety together with new ones about receiving large numbers of Christians in a country that is not exactly devoid of sectarian tension.

Ishak Ibrahim, head of the Religious Freedom Unit at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, argued that it is not possible to promote Christian pilgrimage in a country where Christians are marginalized. “We can’t be that detached from reality and that is why promoting Christian pilgrimage has to be accompanied by serious steps towards acknowledging Christian presence,” he said.

Ibrahim cited the example of text books that do not focus at all on Coptic history or the role of Copts in Egyptian civilization which, in turn, does not promote cultural diversity. “Pilgrims are not going to visit sites in a country whose citizens have no respect for their religion,” he added. Former deacon at the Coptic Orthodox Church Beshoy Sami agreed with Ibrahim and said that dealing with sectarian sentiments among Egyptians is the only ways Christian pilgrimage can succeed in Egypt. “The state has to stop solving Muslim-Christian clashes customary reconciliation sessions rather than the law and the people need to stop viewing Christians as inferior,” he said. “Some countries are not even aware that there are Christians in Egypt.”

Priest murder

Melbourne-based Coptic journalist Ashraf Helmi expected the recent murder in Cairo of Egyptian priest Samaan Shehata to have a negative impact on Christian pilgrimage trips, especially that the state did not handle the situation in the right way and only referred to the murderer as mentally ill. “Added to this is the number of religious edicts from extremist preachers who incite people against Christians and teach them intolerance,” he said in a statement. Helmi warned that Shehata’s murder might, in fact, lead many European countries to ask their citizens not to go to Egypt in general and for religious trips in particular.

In fact, journalist Mayada Seif sees the attack on Shehata as a reaction to announcement of starting Christian pilgrimage to Egypt. “It is like a message to the world that Christians who come to Egypt will be killed because Egypt is only for Muslims,” she wrote.

Journalist Osama Salama notes that the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism expects to receive two to three million Christian pilgrims annually and wonders how prepared the state is for such numbers. “The minister of tourism said a film will be made about the holy sites in Egypt to be marketed across the world and pamphlets in many languages are to be printed about those sites. But then what? Is this enough?” he wrote. Salama listed a number of problems that might make pilgrimage trips a failure. “Most of the sites in the journey of the Holy Family are in a deplorable state and need a lot of maintenance.

Time for change

The tree in whose shadow Virgin Mary sat in Cairo, for example, is totally neglected and the area surrounding it is filthy.” Salama cited other issues such as lack of good accommodation in most of the governorates where the sites are located as well the unpaved roads leading to them, which leads to a lot of accidents. “As for trains going to these areas, they are notorious for never leaving or arriving on time in addition to occasional breakdowns and accidents.”

For Salama, it is also not wise to start receiving pilgrims without training a team of tour guides that can accompany them and who should be knowledgeable about this historical era. “Most guides we have are trained in ancient Egyptian history and those won’t be fit for such a job.”

Economic expert Medhat Nafea is more optimistic for he does not believe that lack of hotels is an obstacle since it is a different type of tourism. “The spiritual nature of pilgrimages allows for a simple and rather primitive atmosphere where luxury accommodation is not needed,” he wrote.

While admitting that turmoil in North Sinai can be a problem, Nafea argues that this is bound to change soon. “With the Palestinian reconciliation and the rapprochement with Hamas, normalcy is expected to be gradually restored to Sinai, which makes it safe for pilgrims to visit sits of the Holy Family journey there.”

Nafea noted that Egypt does get tourists who visit holy sites, but they are few and are not part of a full pilgrimage program. “Most of them come from Jerusalem while many are already in Sinai for recreational purposes and that is why it is hard to know their exact number. They do not exceed a few hundreds in all cases.”

La differenza è stridente.

Washington (CNN)The Supreme Court granted Tuesday a Trump administration request to continue to bar most refugees under its travel ban.

Without comment, the court blocked a federal appeals court ruling from last week that would have exempted refugees who have a contractual commitment from resettlement organizations from the travel ban while the justices consider its legality. The ruling could impact roughly 24,000 people.

The travel ban bars certain people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US.

The issue concerning the scope of the travel ban has been ricocheting through the courts since last spring when the Supreme Court allowed Trump’s ban to go into effect except for those with a “bona fide” relationship to the United States. The order might give hope to supporters of the ban, but it may also simply reflect a desire on the part of the justices to maintain the status quo until the justices can hear the case next month.

“Although it may be tempting to see the order as a harbinger of how the court is likely to rule on the merits, it’s better understood as a very modest procedural step to stabilize the full scope of the injunctions against the travel ban over the next four weeks,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law.

The justices did not explain their reasoning, although it took five justices to make the decision.

The court is expected to take up the legality of the travel ban October 10.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily allowed the Trump administration to stop some 24,000 refugees from entering the United States while the court considers broad challenges to the administration’s revised travel ban.

The court’s brief order effectively reversed part of an appeals court ruling that had lifted the travel ban’s restrictions on the nation’s refugee program. There were no noted dissents.

The appeals court had also rejected the administration’s efforts to bar travel to the United States from six predominantly Muslim countries by people with grandparents, uncles, aunts and other relatives here. The administration did not challenge that part of the appeals court’s ruling, and the Supreme Court did not address it.

The court will hear arguments on the lawfulness of the travel ban on Oct. 10. Tuesday’s order was the latest in a series of interim measures interpreting statements in a June ruling in which the court agreed to hear the case. In the meantime, the court temporarily reinstated the travel ban — but only for people without “a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.”

The meaning of that phrase has been contested ever since. The court did not specify which relatives qualified, for instance, but it did say that spouses and mothers-in-law “clearly” counted.

“As for entities,” the court said, “the relationship must be formal, documented, and formed in the ordinary course, rather than for the purpose of evading” the executive order. It gave examples: students admitted to American universities qualified, as did workers with job offers from American companies and lecturers invited to address American audiences.

On the other hand, the court said, relationships formed for the purpose of evading the travel ban did not count.

The Trump administration interpreted both parts of the June ruling narrowly. It said that only some relatives of American residents — parents, children, spouses, siblings, parents-in-law, sons- and daughters-in-law and people engaged to be married — could enter. The administration barred other relatives, including grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces and cousins.

The administration also said that relationships between refugees and resettlement agencies were too attenuated to qualify for an exception to the ban because the arrangements had been made by an intermediary: the government.

Judge Watson also ruled in favor of those refugees whom resettlement agencies were prepared to assist.

“An assurance from a United States refugee resettlement agency, in fact, meets each of the Supreme Court’s touchstones,” he wrote. “It is formal, it is a documented contract, it is binding, it triggers responsibilities and obligations, including compensation, it is issued specific to an individual refugee only when that refugee has been approved for entry by the Department of Homeland Security.”

A unanimous three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting in Seattle, agreed on both points. At the Supreme Court, the government challenged only the part of the appeals court’s ruling concerning refugees, arguing that there is no direct connection between refugees and resettlement agencies.

“The absence of a formal connection between a resettlement agency and a refugee subject to an assurance stands in stark contrast to the sort of relationships this court identified as sufficient in its June 26 stay ruling,” the government’s brief said. “Unlike students who have been admitted to study at an American university, workers who have accepted jobs at an American company, and lecturers who come to speak to an American audience, refugees do not have any free-standing connection to resettlement agencies, separate and apart from the refugee-admissions process itself, by virtue of the agencies’ assurance agreement with the government.”

In response, lawyers for Hawaii, which is challenging the travel ban, said the administration was mistaking form for substance.

“One would not, for example,” the brief said, “deny the existence of a ‘relationship’ between a couple and the child they plan to adopt from overseas, even though the couple has not had ‘direct contact’ with the child, and even though the only formal agreement is between the couple and the adoption agency.”

On Monday, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy temporarily blocked the Ninth Circuit’s decision, which would have gone into effect on Tuesday. The order from the full court on Tuesday supplanted that temporary measure.

It is clear that Boko Haram is a group that needs eradication – will the world wake up?»

Giuseppe Sandro Mela.

2017-06-17.

«A security lapse that affected more than 1,000 workers forced one moderator into hiding – and he still lives in constant fear for his safety»

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«Facebook put the safety of its content moderators at risk after inadvertently exposing their personal details to suspected terrorist users of the social network»

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«The security lapse affected more than 1,000 workers across 22 departments at Facebook who used the company’s moderation software to review and remove inappropriate content from the platform, including sexual material, hate speech and terrorist propaganda»

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«A bug in the software, discovered late last year, resulted in the personal profiles of content moderators automatically appearing as notifications in the activity log of the Facebook groups, whose administrators were removed from the platform for breaching the terms of service»

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«The personal details of Facebook moderators were then viewable to the remaining admins of the group»

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«Of the 1,000 affected workers, around 40 worked in a counter-terrorism unit based at Facebook’s European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland»

A security lapse that affected more than 1,000 workers forced one moderator into hiding – and he still lives in constant fear for his safety.

*

Facebook put the safety of its content moderators at risk after inadvertently exposing their personal details to suspected terrorist users of the social network, the Guardian has learned.

The security lapse affected more than 1,000 workers across 22 departments at Facebook who used the company’s moderation software to review and remove inappropriate content from the platform, including sexual material, hate speech and terrorist propaganda.

A bug in the software, discovered late last year, resulted in the personal profiles of content moderators automatically appearing as notifications in the activity log of the Facebook groups, whose administrators were removed from the platform for breaching the terms of service. The personal details of Facebook moderators were then viewable to the remaining admins of the group.

Of the 1,000 affected workers, around 40 worked in a counter-terrorism unit based at Facebook’s European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. Six of those were assessed to be “high priority” victims of the mistake after Facebook concluded their personal profiles were likely viewed by potential terrorists.

The Guardian spoke to one of the six, who did not wish to be named out of concern for his and his family’s safety. The Iraqi-born Irish citizen, who is in his early twenties, fled Ireland and went into hiding after discovering that seven individuals associated with a suspected terrorist group he banned from Facebook – an Egypt-based group that backed Hamas and, he said, had members who were Islamic State sympathizers – had viewed his personal profile.

Facebook confirmed the security breach in a statement and said it had made technical changes to “better detect and prevent these types of issues from occurring”.

“We care deeply about keeping everyone who works for Facebook safe,” a spokesman said. “As soon as we learned about the issue, we fixed it and began a thorough investigation to learn as much as possible about what happened.”

The moderator who went into hiding was among hundreds of “community operations analysts” contracted by global outsourcing company Cpl Recruitment. Community operations analysts are typically low-paid contractors tasked with policing Facebook for content that breaches its community standards.

Overwhelmed with fear that he could face retaliation, the moderator, who first came to Ireland as an asylum seeker when he was a child, quit his job and moved to eastern Europe for five months.

“It was getting too dangerous to stay in Dublin,” he said, explaining that his family had already experienced the horrifying impact of terrorism: his father had been kidnapped and beaten and his uncle executed in Iraq.

“The only reason we’re in Ireland was to escape terrorism and threats,” he said.

The moderator said that others within the high-risk six had their personal profiles viewed by accounts with ties to Isis, Hezbollah and the Kurdistan Workers Party. Facebook complies with the US state department’s designation of terrorist groups.

“When you come from a war zone and you have people like that knowing your family name you know that people get butchered for that,” he said. “The punishment from Isis for working in counter-terrorism is beheading. All they’d need to do is tell someone who is radical here.”

Facebook moderators like him first suspected there was a problem when they started receiving friend requests from people affiliated with the terrorist organizations they were scrutinizing.

An urgent investigation by Facebook’s security team established that personal profiles belonging to content moderators had been exposed. As soon as the leak was identified in November 2016, Facebook convened a “task force of data scientists, community operations and security investigators”, according to internal emails seen by the Guardian, and warned all the employees and contracted staff it believed were affected. The company also set-up an email address, nameleak@fb.com, to field queries from those affected.

Facebook then discovered that the personal Facebook profiles of its moderators had been automatically appearing in the activity logs of the groups they were shutting down.

Craig D’Souza, Facebook’s head of global investigations, liaised directly with some of the affected contractors, talking to the six individuals considered to be at the highest risk over video conference, email and Facebook Messenger.

In one exchange, before the Facebook investigation was complete, D’Souza sought to reassure the moderators that there was “a good chance” any suspected terrorists notified about their identity would fail to connect the dots.

“Keep in mind that when the person sees your name on the list, it was in their activity log, which contains a lot of information,” D’Souza wrote, “there is a good chance that they associate you with another admin of the group or a hacker …”

“I understand Craig,” replied the moderator who ended up fleeing Ireland, “but this is taking chances. I’m not waiting for a pipe bomb to be mailed to my address until Facebook does something about it.”

The bug in the software was not fixed for another two weeks, on 16 November 2016. By that point the glitch had been active for a month. However, the bug was also retroactively exposing the personal profiles of moderators who had censored accounts as far back as August 2016.

Facebook offered to install a home alarm monitoring system and provide transport to and from work to those in the high risk group. The company also offered counseling through Facebook’s employee assistance program, over and above counseling offered by the contractor, Cpl.

The moderator who fled Ireland was unsatisfied with the security assurances received from Facebook. In an email to D’Souza, he wrote that the high-risk six had spent weeks “in a state of panic and emergency” and that Facebook needed to do more to “address our pressing concerns for our safety and our families”.

He told the Guardian that the five months he spent in eastern Europe felt like “exile”. He kept a low profile, relying on savings to support himself. He spent his time keeping fit and liaising with his lawyer and the Dublin police, who checked up on his family while he was away. He returned to Ireland last month after running out of money, although he still lives in fear.

“I don’t have a job, I have anxiety and I’m on antidepressants,” he said. “I can’t walk anywhere without looking back.”

This month he filed a legal claim against Facebook and Cpl with the Injuries Board in Dublin. He is seeking compensation for the psychological damage caused by the leak.

Cpl did not respond to a request to comment. The statement provided by Facebook said its investigation sought to determine “exactly which names were possibly viewed and by whom, as well as an assessment of the risk to the affected person”.

The social media giant played down the threat posed to the affected moderators, but said that it contacted each of them individually “to offer support, answer their questions, and take meaningful steps to ensure their safety”.

“Our investigation found that only a small fraction of the names were likely viewed, and we never had evidence of any threat to the people impacted or their families as a result of this matter,” the spokesman said.

Details of Facebook’s security blunder will once again put a spotlight on the grueling and controversial work carried out by an army of thousands of low-paid staff, including in countries like the Philippines and India.

The moderator who fled Ireland worked for a 40-strong specialist team tasked with investigating reports of terrorist activity on Facebook. He was hired because he spoke Arabic, he said.

He felt that contracted staff were not treated as equals to Facebook employees but “second-class citizens”. He was paid just €13 ($15) per hour for a role that required him to develop specialist knowledge of global terror networks and scour through often highly-disturbing material.

“You come in every morning and just look at beheadings, people getting butchered, stoned, executed,” he said.

Facebook’s policies allow users to post extremely violent images provided they don’t promote or celebrate terrorism. This means moderators may be repeatedly exposed to the same haunting pictures to determine whether the people sharing them were condemning or celebrating the depicted acts.

The moderator said that when he started, he was given just two weeks training and was required to use his personal Facebook account to log into the social media giant’s moderation system.

“They should have let us use fake profiles,” he said, adding: “They never warned us that something like this could happen.”

Facebook told the Guardian that as a result of the leak it is testing the use of administrative accounts that are not linked to personal profiles.

Moderation teams were continually scored for the accuracy and speed of their decisions, he said, as well as other factors such as their ability to stay updated training materials. If a moderator’s score dropped below 90% they would receive a formal warning.

In an attempt to boost morale among agency staff, Facebook launched a monthly award ceremony to celebrate the top quality performers. The prize was a Facebook-branded mug. “The mug that all Facebook employees get,” he noted.

After killing an officer, the man attempted to run away while shooting at other officers, two of whom he injured, the spokesman added.

He was then shot dead by security forces.

The whole of the Champs Elysees was evacuated.

Because of its worldwide renown and its large number of visitors, the avenue has long been seen as a potential target, the BBC’s Hugh Schofield in Paris reports.

Overnight, a property in the eastern Parisian suburb of Chelles was searched by investigators, who want to know who else – if anyone – may have known about the gunman’s plans.

What is known about the attacker?

Paris prosecutor François Molins said shortly after the shootings that “the attacker’s identity is known and has been verified”.

“I won’t reveal it, because investigations and raids are already under way, in particular to establish whether there is any evidence or not of complicity [in this attack],” he said, adding that more information would be released on Friday.

According to French media, the attacker served several years in prison for firing on police officers with a gun in the early 2000s.

More recently the intelligence services identified him as a potential Islamist radical.

Meanwhile, IS named the attacker as Abu-Yusuf al-Baljiki, in a statement carried by its Amaq news outlet.

The Belgian interior minister told VRT public broadcaster that the perpetrator was a French national.

Could the attack influence the elections?

The attack took place as 11 candidates in Sunday’s closely fought presidential election were engaged in a final joint TV appearance to argue their policies.

Three of the four main candidates, centrist Emmanuel Macron, centre-right Francois Fillon and far-right Marine Le Pen, have called off planned events on Friday, which would have been the final day of campaigning.

Front National candidate Marine Le Pen told a French radio station on Friday morning she feared further attacks, and said France should immediately reinstate border checks.

She tweeted: “I feel for and stand by our security forces, who have been targeted again.”

Meanwhile, Independent centrist Emmanuel Macron urged French citizens not to “give in to fear” in a interview with the RTL station.

He said it was a president’s “first duty to protect” and he expressed his “solidarity” with the police.

Mr Fillon, of the Republican Party, also went on Twitter to pay “tribute to the security forces who give their lives to protect ours”.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, standing for the far left, tweeted: “I strongly feel for the policemen killed and wounded and their families. Terrorist attacks will never go unpunished, accomplices never forgotten.”

Islamist militancy is a major issue in the polls after recent mass attacks claimed by IS, with 238 people killed in jihadist attacks in France since 2015, according to data from AFP news agency.

And how did the world react?

At the White House, US President Donald Trump said people had to be strong and vigilant.

“Our condolences from our country to the people of France,” he said. “It looks like another terrorist attack and… what can you say? It just never ends.”

In the UK, a Downing Street spokesman said: “The UK strongly condemns the appalling terrorist attack in Paris. The Prime Minister (Theresa May) has tonight passed on her condolences to President Hollande.”

Giuseppe Sandro Mela.

2017-03-14.

«Russia appears to have deployed special forces to an airbase in western Egypt near the border with Libya in recent days»

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«The U.S. and diplomatic officials said any such Russian deployment might be part of a bid to support Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar»

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«the United States has observed what appeared to be Russian special operations forces and drones at Sidi Barrani, about 60 miles (100 km) from the Egypt-Libya border»

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«Russia also used another Egyptian base farther east in Marsa Matrouh in early February»

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«Russian military aircraft flew about six military units to Marsa Matrouh before the aircraft continued to Libya about 10 days later»

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«Several Western countries, including the U.S., have sent special operations forces and military advisors into Libya over the past two years»

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«Questions about Russia’s role in north Africa coincide with growing concerns in Washington about Moscow’s intentions in oil-rich Libya, which has become a patchwork of rival fiefdoms in the aftermath of a 2011 NATO-backed uprising against the late leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was a client of the former Soviet Union»

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«A force of several dozen armed private security contractors from Russia operated until February in a part of Libya that is under Haftar’s control»

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«It is pretty clear the Egyptians are facilitating Russian engagement in Libya by allowing them to use these bases»

Russia appears to have deployed special forces to an airbase in western Egypt near the border with Libya in recent days, U.S., Egyptian and diplomatic sources say, a move that would add to U.S. concerns about Moscow’s deepening role in Libya.

The U.S. and diplomatic officials said any such Russian deployment might be part of a bid to support Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar, who suffered a setback with an attack on March 3 by the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB) on oil ports controlled by his forces.

The U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States has observed what appeared to be Russian special operations forces and drones at Sidi Barrani, about 60 miles (100 km) from the Egypt-Libya border.

Egyptian security sources offered more detail, describing a 22-member Russian special forces unit, but declined to discuss its mission. They added that Russia also used another Egyptian base farther east in Marsa Matrouh in early February.

The apparent Russian deployments have not been previously reported.

The Russian defense ministry did not immediately provide comment on Monday and Egypt denied the presence of any Russian contingent on its soil.

“There is no foreign soldier from any foreign country on Egyptian soil. This is a matter of sovereignty,” Egyptian army spokesman Tamer al-Rifai said.

The U.S. military declined comment. U.S. intelligence on Russian military activities is often complicated by its use of contractors or forces without uniforms, officials say.

Russian military aircraft flew about six military units to Marsa Matrouh before the aircraft continued to Libya about 10 days later, the Egyptian sources said.

Reuters could not independently verify any presence of Russian special forces and drones or military aircraft in Egypt.

Mohamed Manfour, commander of Benina air base near Benghazi, denied that Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) had received military assistance from the Russian state or from Russian military contractors, and said there were no Russian forces or bases in eastern Libya.

Several Western countries, including the U.S., have sent special operations forces and military advisors into Libya over the past two years. The U.S. military also carried out air strikes to support a successful Libyan campaign last year to oust Islamic State from its stronghold in the city of Sirte.

Questions about Russia’s role in north Africa coincide with growing concerns in Washington about Moscow’s intentions in oil-rich Libya, which has become a patchwork of rival fiefdoms in the aftermath of a 2011 NATO-backed uprising against the late leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was a client of the former Soviet Union.

The U.N.-backed government in Tripoli is in a deadlock with Haftar, and Russian officials have met with both sides in recent months. Moscow appears prepared to back up its public diplomatic support for Haftar even though Western governments were already irked at Russia’s intervention in Syria to prop up President Bashar al-Assad.

A force of several dozen armed private security contractors from Russia operated until February in a part of Libya that is under Haftar’s control, the head of the firm that hired the contractors told Reuters.

The top U.S. military commander overseeing troops in Africa, Marine General Thomas Waldhauser, told the U.S. Senate last week that Russia was trying to exert influence in Libya to strengthen its leverage over whoever ultimately holds power.

Asked whether it was in the U.S. interest to let that happen, Waldhauser said: “It is not.”

REGAINING TOE-HOLD

One U.S. intelligence official said Russia’s aim in Libya appeared to be an effort to “regain a toe-hold where the Soviet Union once had an ally in Gaddafi.”

“At the same time, as in Syria, they appear to be trying to limit their military involvement and apply enough to force some resolution but not enough to leave them owning the problem,” the official added, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Russia’s courting of Haftar, who tends to brand his armed rivals as Islamist extremists and who some Libyans see as the strongman their country needs after years of instability, has prompted others to draw parallels with Syria, another longtime Soviet client.

Asked by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham whether Russia was trying to do in Libya what it did in Syria, Waldhauser said: “Yes, that’s a good way to characterize it.”

A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia was looking to back Haftar, although its initial focus would likely be on Libya’s “oil crescent.”

“It is pretty clear the Egyptians are facilitating Russian engagement in Libya by allowing them to use these bases. There are supposedly training exercises taking place there at present,” the diplomat said.

Egypt has been trying to persuade the Russians to resume flights to Egypt, which have been suspended since a Russian plane carrying 224 people from the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh to St Petersburg was brought down by a bomb in October 2015. The attack was claimed by an Islamic State branch that operates out of northern Sinai.

Russia says that its primary objective in the Middle East is to contain the spread of violent Islamist groups.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pledged this month to help unify Libya and foster dialogue when he met the leader of the U.N.-backed government, Fayez Seraj.

Russia, meanwhile, is also deepening its relations with Egypt, which had ties to the Soviet Union from 1956 to 1972.

The two countries held joint military exercises – something the U.S. and Egypt did regularly until 2011 – for the first time in October.

Russia’s Izvestia newspaper said in October that Moscow was in talks to open or lease an airbase in Egypt. Egypt’s state-owned Al Ahram newspaper, however, quoted the presidential spokesman as saying Egypt would not allow foreign bases.

The Egyptian sources said there was no official agreement on the Russian use of Egyptian bases. There were, however, intensive consultations over the situation in Libya.

Egypt is worried about chaos spreading from its western neighbor and it has hosted a flurry of diplomatic meetings between leaders of the east and west in recent months.

Giuseppe Sandro Mela.

2016-12-29.

«How many massacres and fatalities will have to happen until our governments stop letting a massive number of migrants into our borderless countries, although we’re perfectly aware that Islamist terrorists mingle among them?» [Marine Le Pen]

In sintesi: “Merkel vattene“.

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«His corpse is the emblem of a crazy and tragic journey that began five years ago and stands for many aspects of the new threat we face. Maybe he even represents all the aspects. Illegal immigration, religious radicalization and terrorism: all of this was encapsulated by this body in the street, the paper said. Added to this was the incapability of German authorities to send people like Anis Amri back to their home country. And so a person who was classified as dangerous by security forces was able to maintain his contacts with other militants who probably encouraged him in the phase of mobilization that precedes every such deed»

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«The second story is of how over many years a generation of young men and women was marginalized and exposed to radicalization, and this is a story that many in Tunisia are still reluctant to admit»

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«evidence of an increasingly common link between criminality and radicalization; the two communities often overlap in recruitment»

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«The story of a dangerous journey via the Balkan route to Germany, the long wait for decisions being made by overwhelmed authorities, a joyless existence in a defunct airport without prospects of finding work, combined with petty crime, Islamist propaganda on the Internet and at the end, the attack»

International media have many takes on Monday night’s tragic events in Berlin. One thing has been clear in all the commentaries that have been written: The challenges are huge.

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The journey of alleged terrorist Anis Amris ended near Milan – on a patch of asphalt in the municipality of Sesto San Giovani, to be exact.

“His corpse,” writes the Italia newspaper “Corriere della Sera,” “is the emblem of a crazy and tragic journey that began five years ago and stands for many aspects of the new threat we face. Maybe he even represents all the aspects.” Illegal immigration, religious radicalization and terrorism: all of this was encapsulated by this body in the street, the paper said. Added to this was the incapability of German authorities to send people like Anis Amri back to their home country, it wrote, adding: “And so a person who was classified as dangerous by security forces was able to maintain his contacts with other militants who probably encouraged him in the phase of mobilization that precedes every such deed.”

Anis Amri is also a symbol of a global problem, writes the newspaper “La Repubblica.” “It is terrorism that can unexpectedly hit anywhere: France, Belgium, Germany, the USA, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. The terrorists’ motives depend on the size of the Islamic community in the country they live in, the degree of integration and the competence of security forces.” But there is one more phenomenon, writes “Repubblica”: the “banlieus,” meaning the impoverished suburbs of large cities. This was where many uprooted people lived, it said, fostering “the fight of an angry class whose members find terrorism appealing.”

One country, two stories

At the same time, the life story of the terrorist Amri also sheds light on the situation in Tunisia. The North African country can tell two stories, writes the British “Telegraph.” On one hand, there is the story of the revolution that has led to happy and successful democratic conditions. “The second story is of how over many years a generation of young men and women was marginalized and exposed to radicalization, and this is a story that many in Tunisia are still reluctant to admit. “

Instead, they prefer to point out the seductive power of international jihadism. But this does not absolve them of responsibility, the paper says: Amri’s career reveals something else, being “evidence of an increasingly common link between criminality and radicalization; the two communities often overlap in recruitment.”

‘General anger’

The London-based Arabic newspaper “Asharq al-Awsat” says that material conditions initially disappointed many refugees in Germany, many of whom end up “sleeping in makeshift, windowless enclosures that – though clean and well-supplied – have walls that don’t reach the high ceiling and echo with the slightest sound.”

It was thus actually quite easy to find a story to explain how terrorism was engendered, the paper said. “The story of a dangerous journey via the Balkan route to Germany, the long wait for decisions being made by overwhelmed authorities, a joyless existence in a defunct airport without prospects of finding work, combined with petty crime, Islamist propaganda on the Internet and at the end, the attack.”

It is an attack that also upset Tunisians, according to the website G Net. “The news gives you goose bumps. The shock is collective, there is general anger. The name of a Tunisian has been added to the list of those who spread fear through international terror. Helpless and powerless, we can only vehemently condemn thos who sully our reputation in front of the entire world.”

Threat of polarization

The Arabic-language newspaper “Al-Araby Al-Jadeed” writes that the attack could have other consequences. “It feeds the fear of Europeans that their countries are no longer safe from terrorism, which is increasingly threatening them. The series of attacks with dozens left dead could undermine the sense of security. That leaves governments with the difficult task of striking an appropriate balance between peace and freedom.”

And this, in turn, poses another danger, the paper says. “The first beneficiaries of these events, which promote the polarization of European societies, are the far-right and nationalist parties and the slander campaigns against Muslims. All indicators point to the fact that right-leaning parties will be sitting in European parliaments after the coming elections.”

But it hasn’t come to that yet, “Asharq al-Awsat” assures its readers. “The incident and its aftermath won’t, however, destroy the spirit of this vital, unsentimental, vastly tolerant and wildly mischievous city. Berlin will mourn, as it often has, and it will move on as it has always done.”

22,000 potential jihadists

The Spanish paper “El Pais” believes that Angela Merkel probably sees things this way too. She, too, is aware how seductive populist slogans can sound. “But she also knows that they do not deal with the root of the problem. So she confronts them with the force of moral conviction, no matter how unpopular it may be. By doing so, she will turn into the only political leader worthy of the title.”

At the same time, European states face great challenges, writes the Spanish newspaper “El Mundo.” This is especially applies to putting the appropriate security measures in place, it says. “But we must not forget that absolute security is impossible. The roughly 22,000 potential jihadists – according to estimates made by security services in Europe – show us the scale of the danger we face.”

«We owe it to the victims, the families and the population at large to rethink our entire immigration and security policy and establish it anew» [Horst Seehofer]

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«How many massacres and fatalities will have to happen until our governments stop letting a massive number of migrants into our borderless countries, although we’re perfectly aware that Islamist terrorists mingle among them?» [Marine Le Pen]

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«The Christmas market was not an accidental target. It is not only an attack on our freedom and our way of life, but on our Christian tradition» [Frauke Petry]

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«Germany is no longer safe. It is the duty of the German chancellor to communicate this…But I tell you, she won’t do this» [Frauke Petry]

«How many massacres and fatalities will have to happen until our governments stop letting a massive number of migrants into our borderless countries, although we’re perfectly aware that Islamist terrorists mingle among them?» [Marine Le Pen]

The populist AfD was first to attack Chancellor Merkel after a truck smashed into a crowded Berlin Christmas Market on Monday night. The act of terrorism will increase pressure on her as she heads into an election year.

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It was the attack that Germany had been bracing itself for.

And it could have far-reaching political implications, particularly for Chancellor Angela Merkel, already fighting off a challenge from right-wing populists.

On Monday night, shortly after 8 p.m., a truck smashed into a crowded Christmas market in the heart of West Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring dozens more.

While the authorities were initially extremely careful not to jump to conclusions about the circumstances leading to the awful carnage, by Tuesday the Berlin police said that they were dealing with a “presumed terror attack,” stating that their investigators were working on the assumption that the truck was intentionally driven into the crowd.

If that is confirmed, it would be the first time that a terror attack has been carried out in the German capital, and on a symbolic and also relatively soft target: the traditional Christmas market, where locals and tourists gather to drink mulled wine amid glittering fairy lights.

The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany was quick to single out who they blamed. Immediately after news of the incident emerged on Monday night, Marcus Pretzell, a member of the European Parliament for the party and partner of AfD leader Frauke Petry, tweeted: “When will the German rule of law strike back? When will this cursed hypocrisy end? These are Merkel’s dead!”

The deputy leader of the Social Democrats, Ralf Stegner, called the comment “unbelievable and disgusting!”

“Instead of respect for the victims, again disgusting political exploitation of this tragedy by the AfD and other right-wing agitators,” he tweeted.

Yet, for all the outrage heaped on the AfD, there is little doubt that the party is likely to profit from an attack in the heart of the German capital.

“Events like these will be the Merkel legacy.”

Nigel Farage, Former UKIP leader

And for Angela Merkel, it could be political poison. Her conservative Christian Democrats had been tearing each other apart over the past year over her open-door refugee policy, while the Bavarian Christian Social Union has consistently attacked her for allowing close to 1 million asylum seekers to enter the country in one year.

Yet the two parties seemed to have buried the hatchet to some extent as they prepared for the 2017 election year, when Ms. Merkel will run for a fourth term in the federal vote in the fall.

The tensions with the CSU could reemerge. Horst Seehofer, the CSU leader and Bavarian premier who has repeatedly called for a cap on the number of asylum seekers allowed to enter Germany, said on Tuesday: “We owe it to the victims, the families and the population at large to rethink our entire immigration and security policy and establish it anew.”

The fact that initial reports say that the man arrested near the scene of the crime could be a refugee will only add to pressure on Ms. Merkel. According to the police, the suspect is believed to be a 23-year old Pakistani man who was residing in a refugee center in Berlin’s former Tempelhof Airport, Reuters reported, citing security sources. He was known to police as having committed some petty crimes.

However, on Tuesday police said that the arrested man denied involvement and that it is not clear if he was the perpetrator. “It is uncertain if he was definitely the driver,” the head of the Berlin Police, Klaus Kandt, told reporters.

Earlier on Tuesday, giving a brief statement, a somber Ms. Merkel said: “I know it would be very difficult to accept if it were to be confirmed that a person who sought asylum and protection in Germany, committed this act. This would be especially appalling to all people who are working day in, day out to help the refugees and to all who really need our protection and make an effort to integrate.”

International critics already had the knives out, with Nigel Farage, the former leader of the euroskeptic United Kingdom Independence Party, tweeting: “Events like these will be the Merkel legacy.”

Geert Wilders, the head of the Dutch populist Party for Freedom (PVV), also took to the social media platform to react to the events in Berlin:

Marine Le Pen, leader of the French right-wing Front National, released a statement on Tuesday in which she asked: “How many massacres and fatalities will have to happen until our governments stop letting a massive number of migrants into our borderless countries, although we’re perfectly aware that Islamist terrorists mingle among them?”

Ms. Merkel biggest critic, however, will be domestic. The right-wing AfD has grown from a fringe euroskeptic party to an anti-immigrant populist group and a major force in German politics. The latest poll, published by Forsa on Tuesday but conducted before the Monday attack, had given them 11 percent support.

The party has entered 10 of the country’s 16 state parliaments since its foundation in 2013, when it narrowly missed getting into the Bundestag. It is almost certain to succeed in winning seats in the lower house in next year’s election.

And a debate over terror and immigrants is likely to be to their advantage.

On Tuesday, the AfD leader, Frauke Petry condemned the attack and hit out at the chancellor. “The Christmas market was not an accidental target,” she said in a statement. “It is not only an attack on our freedom and our way of life, but on our Christian tradition.”

“Germany is no longer safe,” she continued. “It is the duty of the German chancellor to communicate this…But I tell you, she won’t do this.”

Ms. Merkel had already seen her once unassailable popularity tarnished after sexual assaults in Cologne on New Year’s Eve and then further eroded after attacks during the summer by asylum seekers, including a suicide bomber at a music festival and a man wielding an ax on a train.

That popularity had started to bounce back. The mainstream parties have been hoping to concentrate on their strong points: bread and butter issues, like wages and pensions, issues where the AfD has little to say.

However, if the attack is confirmed to be carried out by an Islamist, the populist party can hope to score major successes, both in a number of state elections, including in Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia next May and in the federal vote later in the year.

“Your guess would have to be it’s yet another extremist Islam attack, that’s going to continue to weaken Merkel, that’s going to continue to support the populists,” Ian Bremmer, president of New York-based political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said on Bloomberg TV.

However, Ms. Merkel could also persuade the population that her party is the best placed to provide security, argues Gero Neugebauer, professor of politics at the Free University in Berlin.

“In concrete terms, it will be advantageous for the CDU. The majority of the population sees the party as the most competent when it comes to law and order,” he told Handelsblatt Global.

“There will be a big discussion about more security. This discussion will swing between hysteria, represented by the AfD, and the attempt by the CDU to employ it as an election campaign issue, that gives it a profile as the party that stands for security.”

That has risks, argues terror expert Raffaello Pantucci. The CDU and Merkel can try to play the law and order card in the election, “but the reality is, if they’ve failed to deliver security so far, playing that card can be difficult and they can be attacked for that failure,” Mr. Pantucci of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, told Handelsblatt Global.

While the authorities in Germany have tried to react with relative calm to previous incidents, “if you continue to have attacks like this then people get more worried and then you have to ramp up your security response in part to assuage people’s concerns.”

He argued that Chancellor Merkel has already done so over the past year but now, “she’ll have to do that more visibly.”